Schwarzenegger seeks budget hike

With California’s tax revenues surging ahead of expectations, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed an ambitious spending plan Tuesday that is 7 percent higher than the current fiscal year’s and would not raise taxes.

His $125.6 billion plan for the 2006-07 fiscal year also marks the first time in years that the state is counting on enough tax revenue to cover spending without significant borrowing.

The big winners appear to be public schools and health and human services agencies. Education groups attacked Schwarzenegger last year after he proposed tying teacher pay to merit rather than seniority and tried to make it harder for teachers to win tenure.

Schwarzenegger is proposing a $4.3 billion boost in funding for kindergarten through 12th grade and community colleges, raising per student spending to its highest level ever in California – $11,000.

Baton Rouge, La.

Recall petition targets Blanco

A Republican who says she has never worked on a political campaign filed documents Tuesday launching a drive to oust Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who was harshly criticized for her response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Kat Landry, who filed a recall petition with state elections officials, said Louisiana needs new leadership to recover from the storms’ back-to-back blows.

In Louisiana, getting a recall on the ballot requires petition signatures from at least one-third of the state’s registered voters, or about 900,000 people, in 180 days, according to Jennifer Marusak of the secretary of state’s office.

The 180-day period for gathering signatures began Tuesday, when the petition was filed, Marusak said.

London

Rendition requests came in 1998

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Tuesday that the government completed a records search into rendition requests made by the United States, finding three instances where the Clinton administration asked for permission to fly through its airspace while transporting prisoners.

Tuesday’s report followed a government statement in December in which it said it had no records of requests made by the Bush administration for rendition flights through Britain to third countries.

At that time, Straw ruled out a judicial inquiry into claims that the United States has used British airports to fly terror suspects abroad for interrogation.

The three flight requests revealed Tuesday were made in 1998, for trips to the United States.

Kiev, Ukraine

Cabinet faces power struggle

Ukraine’s parliament fired the country’s prime minister and Cabinet on Tuesday to protest the government’s handling of the recent gas price war with Russia, a move experts said was an attempt to weaken the beleaguered Orange Revolution bloc ahead of crucial legislative elections this spring.

Parliament ordered Prime Minister Yuri Yekhanurov and his Cabinet to stay on until a new Cabinet can be formed. President Viktor Yushchenko denounced the move as unconstitutional and said he would challenge it in court.

But the parliament’s 250-50 vote sent a strong signal that the political clout Yushchenko amassed after his ascent to power during 2004’s Orange Revolution was eroding rapidly with elections slated for March 26.